True Colours
by Marie del a Meer
Summary: Cameron is bought into the ER suffering from psychosis, can the team figure out what's wrong with her? Set towards the end of season 3.
1. Chapter 1

_**Title:**_** True Colours**

_**Author: **_**Marie del a Meer**

_**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own House.**

_**Rating:**_** T**

_**Summary:**_** Cameron is suffering from some kind of psychosis, can the team work out what's wrong with her. A little bit House/Cameron. Set between the season three episodes **_**Act your age**_** and **_**House training**_**. Chase and Cameron were having a casual relationship that has now ended. This is before Foreman gets the yips and is leaving. **

_**A/N:**_** Please read and review. I always like feedback, good or bad.**

House awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. He grabbed for it in defence against the irritating noise. He realised he must have fallen asleep on his couch. He had been watching WCW, but now there was some bimbo reading the news.

"Hello," he answered groggily.

He glanced at his watch. It was 11:40pm.

"House," Cuddy's voice was on the other end of the phone.

House noted that she sounded more sympathetic than usual, which didn't match her action of unsympathetically calling him in the middle of the night.

"This had better be good," House warned her.

"It's Cameron" Cuddy hesitated momentarily, unsure of how to phrase the next part, "She was in a car accident. She's _fine_," Cuddy made sure to stress the last part. "But I think you should come down to the hospital."

House was wide awake now.

He braced himself, "What aren't you telling me?"

Cuddy began to tell him, "The paramedics who bought her and the other woman in..."

House cut her off, "What other woman?"

Cuddy tried to continue, "She had a passenger in the car."

"So Cameron was driving," House deduced, that rattled him a little. _There is no way this is her fault_, "Did another car hit her?"

"No." Cuddy explained, "They appear to have run off the road, hit a telephone pole."

House felt his stomach turning.

"The car has airbags," Cuddy assured him, "It wasn't a big accident."

The more Cuddy evaded straight answers, the more terrified House felt.

"Whatever it is, just say it." House spoke bluntly.

House heard Cuddy let go of the breath she had been holding on the other end of the phone.

"The paramedics who bought them in said that they both appear to be suffering from some kind of psychosis," Cuddy told him.

House sighed in relief.

"She has a concussion," House spat, annoyed at Cuddy for getting him panicked for nothing.

Cuddy was prepared for his question, "No concussion, no head trauma,"

"The ER probably missed it. Her hair could be covering it," House rationalised.

"It's not," Cuddy baited him, "But feel free to come down and check her out for yourself."

"I'll be right there." House responded testily.

House hung up the phone. _Cameron is fine_, he told himself.


	2. Chapter 2

House kept thinking about Cameron. Was she okay? He knew it was pointless, but he couldn't help himself. Cameron was a cautious driver. How would she just drive into a pole? She wouldn't be drunk or high, maybe another car ran her off the road? House suddenly realised he was at the hospital, and had absolutely no recollection of the ride over. He parked his bike and grabbed his cane.

He entered the emergency department, striding at a faster pace than normal because his leg didn't hurt right now. He got to the nurse's station.

"Allison Cameron, do you know what room she's in?" He was in no mood for pleasantries.

"Third curtain from the door," one of the nurses pointed.

As House got closer to the bed, he saw an intern futilely trying to shine a torch into Cameron's eyes. She was curled up in fetal position, vehemently moving her head away.

"You're trying to take it," She repeated.

"I'm not going to take anything," The intern clarified, "I just need to see that you can follow this light with your eyes." He spoke to Cameron as if she were a child.

It annoyed House to see Cameron degraded like this. She's a doctor, probably a lot better than this idiot.

"Cameron," House called to her.

He saw recognition register in her eyes. Her face appeared physically unmarked, he saw no obvious signs that she had been in a car accident. That was comforting.

She smiled sweetly, "You came back for me."

He had no idea what she meant by that. House reached her bed, and Cameron pulled him into a warm hug, which startled him.

"I'm glad you're back," she smiled again, she almost seemed high.

"Dr. House," the intern addressed him, "Is this one of your patients?"

House rebuked him, "This is _Dr_. Cameron. She works here."

"Oh," was all he said. "I need to check her neurological reflexes. You think you can get her to hold still."

"Sure," House responded. He smiled back at Cameron, her pupils appeared dilated, if a little glazed over. Cuddy was right, this wasn't a concussion. Her hands had a slight tremor.

House took the light, and said, "Cameron, without moving your head I need you to follow this light with your eyes."

She cooperated. Her eyes were fine.

"Thanks," the intern spoke as he wrote some notes on Cameron's chart.

The intern was leaving, as House called after him, "What can you tell me?"

"We really don't know anything," the intern shrugged, "The car accident was minor."

The intern was out the door this time, when House asked, "What about the woman who was with her, what did she say?"

He turned again, annoyed, "She isn't saying anything, she's been talking to herself, about nothing any of us can understand and trying to bang her head against the wall."

"Who is she?" House insisted.

The intern sighed, "We have no idea."

_Maybe they're both high from gas fumes? _"Did the car have a gas leak?" House questioned him.

"Not according to the paramedics," the intern said.

"Can I see the other woman?" House enquired.

"Sure, we've got her restrained over there," he gestured. "But you're not going to get much out of her," he called to House's retreating figure.

The other woman was about Cameron's height, but more solid. She had a wide face, dimpled chin and large closely spaced eyes with long eyelashes. Her ears stuck out slightly. Her facial features resembled Cameron's, except that her complexion was different, natural blonde hair somewhat golden and very light blue eyes and very pale skin.

The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, but looked younger. She had been strapped to the bed, probably to stop her from banging her head, which had a gash just above her left eye.

She watched him approach her.

"Can you tell me what happened?" House asked casually. "I'm a friend of Allison's," he assured her.

She continued to stare at him and not speak.

"Is Allison your sister?" House's question was more pointed now. He knew he was tapping his cane on the floor.

More silence.

He was now convinced that something was awry and it had nothing to do with the car accident. He called Foreman and Chase and told them to get into the hospital A.S.A.P.

_**A/N:**_** I'm kind of picturing the other woman to look like Louise Lombard, the actor who plays Detective Sofia Curtis on CSI, but if she had light blue eyes.**


	3. Chapter 3

Foreman arrived first and began to make himself coffee.

House stood silently at the white board, strumming his fingers against the ledge.

About five minutes later Chase arrived, and poured himself a cup of the coffee Foreman had brewed.

House began talking, "Twenty nine year old female bought into the ER..."

Foreman cut him off, "Aren't we gonna wait for Cameron?"

"It's not like her to be late," Chase observed.

"Cameron's already here," House replied simply. He wondered if either man would question his statement. They didn't so he proceeded.

"She had a minor car accident and is suffering from psychosis, along with the passenger, currently Jane Doe, early thirties."

"The psychosis is obviously not due to any kind of head trauma," Foreman ventured.

House raised his eyebrows at Foreman wordlessly.

Foreman explained his position, "There's no way you would be interested in this case if it was a simple bump on the head."

"Really," House responded, "Even if the patient were say... Cameron?"

"What!" Chase couldn't contain his shock.

Foreman tried to make sense of House's reveal, "Our Cameron, Dr. Cameron is the 29 year old female with sudden unexplained psychosis?"

House nodded, "She's in the ER right now."

"Is this some kind of joke," Chase was visibly upset, probably because he was worried about Cameron and because he didn't like the way House was toying with them.

"The real question is," House educated them, "Did the car accident cause the psychosis or did the psychosis cause the car accident?"

"It's probably a gas leak," Chase concluded. "What room is Cameron in?" Chase got up as he spoke.

House tried to put him at ease, "She's fine Chase, not a scratch on her."

Chase ignored him, leaving the room.

"Is this some kind of game to you," Foreman expressed his disgust, following Chase out of the room.

House shrugged it off. "Well, I was going to suggest we go see her next anyway," he spoke mock defensively.

Foreman stood over Cameron, "What's your name?"

Cameron laughed for no reason.

Chase and Foreman exchanged concerned looks.

"Allison," Cameron spoke, "My name is, my name is is is Allison, but you can call me Cameron. That's... that's with a C."

Foreman spoke very clearly and calmly, "Do you know who I am?"

Cameron spoke with rapid fire delivery, "You know that I know who you are, what are you doing, stop trying to hear my head."

"Do you know what happened?" Chase asked.

"I need to get out of here... road... home...," Cameron was frazzled not responding to anymore of their questions. She spoke suddenly, but not to any of them, "I can't hear, stop talking so fast."

They walked out of the room to discuss Cameron.

"She's displaying classic schizophrenic behaviour," Foreman pointed out.

"Schizophrenia onsets in the late teens early twenties, and it is a slow progression," House argued, "This level of paranoia and auditory hallucinations takes months to develop."

Chase agreed, "That wouldn't explain why the passenger is having hallucinations too."

"We need to call her family," Foreman reminded the others.

"What about Jane Doe?" Chase gestured to the other woman in the bed next door.

"Same family," House said flatly.

Foreman took a closer look at Jane Doe, "You think they're sisters?" He asked House in disbelief.

Chase scoffed, "She doesn't look anything like Cameron."

"Think I'm wrong? I got fifty bucks that says..."

Foreman replied curtly, "I'm not making bets while Cameron is lying in a hospital bed."

That and Foreman was sure House had more information than he did. House almost always took bets when he already knew he was right.

"Too bad." House put his money back in his pocket.

"Who's Cameron's emergency contact?" Chase asked, "You should have it in the filing cabinet upstairs."

House pulled out the piece of paper and began to read out loud, "Linda Harvey, sister." House dialled the mobile number that was listed.

A distinct ringing sound came immediately from the bags they had been handed in by the paramedics with Cameron. The black handbag was Cameron's, House had seen it before. Chase rummaged through the brown leather handbag. Chase didn't bother answering it, he knew the number displayed on the screen was House's mobile number.

House had a clear look of satisfaction on his face, "Good thing you didn't take the bet."


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:**_** I decided I wasn't going to update until I got some feedback, so you can all thank Psycho Strider, LittleDragonfly23 and Scorpiocam.**

It was now 7am on Monday morning. The team reconvened in the diagnostics room. Chase sat at the table with a file and coffee in front of him. Foreman was leaning against the kitchenette counter. House was pacing the room this time. His leg was aching in overdrive.

"Cameron's tox screen was positive for antidepressants," Chase announced.

"Who isn't depressed," House dismissed, swallowing a Vicodin.

"What about elicit drugs? They could've interacted with the antidepressants..." Chase theorised.

"Nothing showed on the tox screen," Foreman shot back, "Cameron wouldn't mix the wrong drugs."

Foreman took the report from Chase, giving it a closer look. "The dosage of antidepressants is higher than it should be... but not really high... not enough for a deliberate overdose." Foreman's confusion at the test result was conveyed in his voice.

"Cameron's trying to get high on antidepressants?" Chase responded disbelievingly.

House knitted his brow, he didn't know what to make of that, be he felt it was important.

"Did the sister test positive for antidepressants?" House asked.

"No," Chase answered, "Completely clean."

"It's got to be environmental, a toxin, some kind of poison, where does the sister live?" House asked.

"We don't know," Foreman informed them, "The handbag had no wallet."

"That's odd," Chase commented.

_They didn't have time for 'state the obvious'_. "What about the car?" House questioned.

Foreman shook his head, "No gas leak, breaks, tyres, oil, engine all fine."

"Did you see evidence of breaking?" Chase asked.

"Yeah," Foreman informed them, "But only close to the pole."

"It was a minor accident," House considered, "Then they couldn't have been travelling very fast."

"No evidence of another vehicle that could have run them off the road either" Foreman noted.

"Okay," House decided to explore other avenues, "How 'bout Cameron's building? Is anyone there sick?"

"We haven't been over there yet," Chase informed him.

"What are you waiting for?" House questioned them, with exaggerated wide-eyes. He stood up. "Actually, you know what, I'm coming too," he called as he limped into his office to find his jacket.

Chase lowered his voice so that only Foreman could hear, "Since when does _he_ do this."

"Kidding?" Foreman shot back, "Like House would miss the chance to go through Cameron's underwear drawer."

"Don't need to," House called from his office, "She's a cotton tails girl," he assured his ducklings.

House left the two men standing in the office as he strode out into the hall.

Foreman and Chase exchanged looks.

Chase huffed in annoyance, "How can he know that?"

Foreman just shook his head, suppressing a wry smile, as he held the glass door open for Chase. They followed House to the elevator.

Cameron's apartment was on the ground floor, a nice complex located ten minutes from the hospital. Foreman had recovered Cameron's keys from the car, House was about to use them when Chase stepped forward, with what must have been his own key, and opened the door. Chase walked in immediately and went to a box on the wall alongside the front door. It was a security system. Chase keyed in the code and turned it off. Foreman and House watched in amusement.

Chase turned back around to their scrutiny. He shrugged his shoulders, "What?"

"Nothing," House replied defensively, but continued to stare, mildly jealous that Chase obviously had intimate knowledge about Cameron that he wasn't privy to.

House had assessed that the building already had decent security, Cameron having an additional system appeared to be over kill. _Interesting._

The apartment, which House had previously only seen from the doorway, had warm yellow walls, with white frames around the windows. There was a large white book case filled with books, ornaments and photo frames. Then there was an off-white couch that looked comfortable facing a coffee table and a TV. A small meals table was behind the couch, it only had two chairs. To the left of the table was a hallway which obviously led to a bathroom and a bedroom. Left of the hallway was a small kitchen, it looked reasonably new, had a white tiled floor. The remaining corner had a treadmill and a small hall stand, next to the alarm.

"Foreman, take the kitchen and living room, Chase, take the bathroom," House delegated.

_Surprise, surprise House was going to search the bedroom,_ Chase noted.

Cameron's bedspread was mauve, with a matching set of white pillows. The bed was unmade which amazed House. A couple of items of clothing lay on the bed, and two pairs of shoes were on the floor not paired up. All the furniture was made from dark mahogany, including a bedside table, glory box and the chest of drawers. There was a small white door that led to a built in robe containing all Cameron's hanging clothes, with shoes at the bottom. She really did have a lot of vests.

House went straight for the bedside table, which had three drawers. Sitting on top of the wooden table was an alarm clock, a small box, deodorant, a book and a lamp. The box contained jewellery. The first drawer had more boring daily items, including condoms, another book, letters and lose photos of people House didn't recognise. House took the letters and photos, they could give them some clues about her life outside of work, but part of him knew that wasn't the real reason he was taking them. The second drawer was all business, receipts, warranties and bank statements, nothing interesting. Of cause Cameron kept her finances meticulously, she basically ran the diagnostics department, administratively.

The bottom drawer was locked. The key would be in the room. If House was a betting man, and he was, he expected that Cameron would have hid the key somewhere in or on the bedside table. Jewellery box seemed like the logical place. He opened the small silver box, it had blue velvet lining the inside. He took out the items piece by piece. House noticed the pair of earrings Cameron had worn on their date. He held a plain gold ring, it was engraved with a date on the inside 07-09-99, obviously Cameron's wedding ring. A couple of items later and he held what would have been her husband's wedding ring, the exact same only larger. House instinctively slipped the ring onto his left hand ring finger, it was a good fit. _I shouldn't be doing this._ He took the ring off. He got to the bottom of the box, no key. _False bottom_, suddenly occurred to him. He pressed the corner and sure enough the bottom came loose, he lifted it up and low and behold the key to the elusive third drawer.

House wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting, but rather than Cameron having anything worth hiding, she had mementos. Just things that were sacred to her; her wedding album, a letter that had _Ally_ written on the outside, a shell, a pocket watch and a poetry book. Two other items caught his attention, the corsage he had given her on their date and the present he had given her for Christmas three years ago. She must have dried the flowers. It surprised him that she had kept the corsage, considering how poorly the date had gone. Maybe the corsage was about hope? He remembered back to the time, she had stunned him by giving him a Christmas gift, an ornamental grand piano with a stool. It measured about three inches by two and a half and was made from silver crystal. It was beautiful, very feminine, very Cameron, and something he would never have bought himself. He liked that it would always remind him of her. He had felt he should return the favour, so he had bought her a snow globe. The globe was made from glass, with a wooden base, it had two white swans in it. It also played music, the theme from Swan Lake if he recalled correctly. It had become a tradition, not that either one of them ever mentioned it. The last two Christmas' Cameron had given him a present and he would in turn leave her a present on her computer chair. He had given her two more snow globes, one with a black stallion in it, and the other with a monarch butterfly. Seeing them all together, it dawned on him what romantic gifts they were. The swans could be something one might give a couple at their wedding. He took the letter and the album.

House checked the glory box, it was full of linen. Under the bed was clear too. He didn't find anymore potential hiding spots.

Meanwhile Chase was in the bathroom, going through the cupboard under the sink. It had all the usual things you would expect, toilet rolls, soap, shampoo, pads.

The counter had all Cameron's make-up and beauty products. He felt awkward about what they were doing, he didn't care when it was some patient, but Cameron would be seeing them every day and they would know things about her that they would have no right to know.

He moved on to the medicine cabinet, which was behind the mirror. He found her Zoloft. It bothered him that he had no idea Cameron was depressed, which reinforced to him, that Cameron liked her privacy. Over the last few hours it occurred to him more and more that he didn't know her at all. He didn't know anything about her family and she had never mentioned any friends.

Apart from usual things, bandaids, Panadol, PMS related tablets and iron supplements, Chase was surprised to find diet pills. He bagged them as they were an oddity.

Foreman had located a bag that must have been Linda's, she didn't have a lot of clothes with her which he assessed to mean she wasn't staying long. He found her wallet. She lived in New York.

He found Cameron's address book, he was lucky that there weren't a lot of names in it. In the H section he found _Harvey, Mom and Dad_ followed by _Harvey_, _Linda_ and_ Harvey, Simon_. He took the book with him.

He moved on to the kitchen. Some food had been left out uncovered on the bench top which he felt was odd. Dirty dishes lay in the sink, they hadn't been rinsed. He took samples if they were exposed to an infection or toxin it was probably something they both ate. The fridge contained extremely healthy food, fruits, vegetables, low fat milk and yogurt. The cupboards on the other hand had chocolate, packets of crisps, canned soup and spaghetti. _Interesting._ There didn't appear to be any bread.

He checked all the air vents he could find and the air conditioner, just in case it was something airborne.


	5. Chapter 5

House sat in his office, making sure he was alone before opening the small bag of personal items he had collected from Cameron's bedroom.

The first thing he looked at was the wedding album. A wedding invitation was stuck to the second page.

_You are invited to join in the celebration of marriage of Michael Cameron and Allison Harvey._

Cameron is _his_ name. He called her by _his_ name. It had never even occurred to him that Cameron was her married name.

The invitation was plain yet elegant, just like Cameron's wedding dress, white, scoop neck, sleeveless, long narrow A-line. Her hair was pulled up and curled. House noted how young she looked, how innocent.

Michael. He also looked young, maybe late twenties. He wasn't particularly good looking, kind of thin. Brown hair, brown eyes, he did seem kind. If he was wearing a wig, to hide the fact that he was bald from chemo it wasn't obvious, and he did appear to have eyebrows, if they were drawn on it was a very good job. He looked happy, they both did. House got annoyed with himself, _what were you expecting?_

It was a small ceremony. Cameron didn't have a bridesmaid, but there was a best man. It wasn't a Church wedding. _Why would it be? Cameron is an atheist._ He recognised Linda in a couple of photos with a teenage boy, probably sixteen or seventeen. He was of average height and build with Cameron's complexion, probably Cameron's brother.

The lose photos didn't really reveal anything. The older photos were of Simon at various ages, a couple had Cameron and Linda, but no photos when Cameron was younger than about twelve. She didn't look all that much different, just older now. Cameron didn't have any recent photos with any female friends.

He turned his attention to the letter.

_Ally_ was written in neat black handwriting obviously a man's.

He read the message inside.

_I love you isn't enough. 'Til death do us part isn't enough. _

_People talk about love at first sight, and I always thought it was a load of crap, you know? You can lust at first sight, but you can't love. Not until you know that person, good and bad, and feel that warmth, that passion that sense of bliss for knowing them. Wanting to be a better person for them, to make them as happy as they make you. I didn't know I was going to love you when we met, but I think somehow I went through life blind before then. _

_Remember that day at the hospital? I threw up on you. Then I tried to cover for myself by telling you it was the only way I knew how to get girls. Then you smiled._

_I grow deeper in love with you every day, I have known you for 412 days as I write this, I actually counted. Our time together is too short, but I lived a life time in it. I am lucky to know you as long as I have._

_I think the Gods are envious of me, because my own impending mortality has burned hot fire into my veins. I live with the finality that I will never feel this again. Thank you._

_You have much life still to live. Remember me, but don't find excuses not to be happy. _

_Love always,_

_Mike_

House felt his eyes welling up as he got to the end of the page. He was struck by the realisation that he didn't know anything. He instinctively reached for his pills. There was only one left. He could have sworn he had more.

The team gathered to go through what they now knew since searching Cameron's apartment.

House opened the discussion, "Where are we on their medical histories?"

Chase answered, "We have Cameron's, but not Linda's yet, it's going to be faxed to us in the morning."

"What about Cameron?" House said his thought out loud.

"Cameron has had all her shots, never broken any bones, was admitted to hospital at fifteen once for exhaustion, another time a year later for dizzy spells and fainting and she was on antidepressants in 2000, for about six months," Chase informed them.

"That would've been just after her husband died," House spoke, "Pretty understandable."

"Cameron's also taking iron supplements," Chase added as an afterthought.

House made wide eyes at him. "I'm shocked," he said sarcastically.

Chase physically recoiled at his comment.

Foreman ignored them, "What do you make of the fainting?"

"Eating disorder, probably anorexia," House replied nonchalantly.

Chase and Foreman looked uncomfortably at one another.

"Oh, don't look so surprised," House chastised them.

"She was on anti-retrovirals for about six months last year..." Chase recalled.

"Cameron _said_ she was negative, but if she was positive, HIV could explain the psychosis..." Foreman argued.

"She doesn't have HIV." House told him firmly.

"Why, because that makes you feel better?" Foreman challenged him. "We're not objective because we know Cameron, but everybody lies House, _your_ motto," Foreman debated, "If Cameron had tested positive, _that_ would be something to keep from us."

"Foreman," House stopped him before he made a complete ass of himself, "I saw the test. She was negative."

Chase considered this, "Those are confidential."

House ignored Chase's comment.

"Okay," Foreman reconsidered, "The test came back negative, but it was a false negative, so Cameron hasn't gotten any treatment since then and is progressing to full blown AIDS faster."

"So Cameron is sharing needles with her sister or do you think they're having sex?" House shot it down.

"Linda's symptoms could be trauma from the accident?" Foreman replied weakly.

"What about neurosyphilis?" Chase suggested, "The symptoms are right."

House decided to give them piece of mind, "Do the tests."

Chase continued to peruse her medical file, "Cameron started up on the antidepressants again about... six weeks ago."

They glanced at one another.

House said what they were thinking, "What happened six weeks ago?"

More silence for a few seconds.

"That was right around the time we had that CIPA patient," Foreman deduced, "And when House pretended to have brain cancer." Foreman shot a dirty look in House's direction.

"I remember that case," House rubbed his unshaven jaw, "Cameron was more interested in the mother and daughter reconciling than working out what was wrong with her." _That in of itself didn't mean anything. Not yet anyway._

Chase remained silent. Six weeks ago was right around when he and Cameron had started up their... arrangement.

"We need more information," House announced simply, before getting up to go to his office.

"Aren't you glad I have her address book with her parent's number in it," Foreman held it up from a small bag of samples he had taken from Cameron's apartment. "She also has a brother."

House stared intensely at Foreman, "Get them here." House suddenly changed his mind, "No I'll call them, give me the book." He extended his hand impatiently.

Foreman held out the address book to him, but when House went to take it he held on to it. Foreman got House's attention, "They're in the book under Harvey."

House nodded. _Cameron was her married name_. House went into his office and shut the door.

House had to look up the area code for Illinios. He dialled Cameron's parent's number.

An older woman's voice came through the line, "Hello."

"Are you Mrs Harvey?" House asked as politely as he could manage.

"Why yes I am. And who might this be," she seemed amused.

"I'm Gregory House," House paused slightly to see if she recognised his name. "I'm a doctor at Princeton Plainsborough Teaching Hospital in New Jersey."

"Is this about Allison?" She asked, surprised.

House exhaled the breath he didn't realise he was holding. "Allison, and your other daughter Linda, have come down with some kind of illness."

Shock was clearly evident in her voice, "What?" What do you mean? What happened?"

"We aren't sure right now, they are both stable, but we would like you to come to the hospital."

"Of course, I'll be there as soon as I can," she seemed frazzled now. "Are they going to be okay?"

"They seem okay for now." He chose not to alarm her. "Is there any family history of mental illness? Schizophrenia? Bipolar?"

"Arr um, no," she seemed thrown by the question.

House pushed some more, "Did anything happen around six weeks ago, to Cameron that you're aware of?"

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" House was trying to be patient with Cameron's mother, but was failing miserably.

"My husband died two months ago," she sounded numb.

House finally had a lead to chase. "I'm sorry for your loss." He paused briefly, "It's Princeton Plainsbourgh Teaching Hospital."

"Yes, I know, I've got the address."

House hung up before she had finished that sentence.

The next call was to Cameron's brother Simon, he tried the Illinios area code, but it was the wrong number. He decided to try New York and New Jersey area codes with the number, if that was wrong he would call Cameron's mother back, he didn't have time to call every state.

New Jersey was correct.

"Hello, Simon speaking," a man's voice answered.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Greg House at Prince..."

"Oh, you're Ally's boss," he said cheerfully, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Is that so?" House was intrigued.

Simon's voice became a mixture of suspicion and concern, "Why are you calling me?"

"Ally and your sister Linda were in a minor car accident, they are in the ER, they're both _fine_," House assured him. "But we need you to come in to the hospital."

The other side of the line was dead for about five seconds.

Alarm flooded Simon's voice, "What happened? How minor?"

"They're physically fine, but they are both experiencing some... psychological symptoms." House decided to wait to reveal the full extent of the situation.

"I can be there in fifteen minutes," Simon responded, his haste clearly evident.

_Cameron and Simon, much closer than Cameron and her mother... Interesting._


	6. Chapter 6

House took it upon himself to talk to Simon. He stopped just short of Cameron's room and decided to watch them.

Simon sat in a chair next to Cameron's bed. He seemed calmer now that he could see her for himself. He was about twenty five, with a good head of hair the same colour as Cameron's. He had light skin and some freckles, and a strong jaw. His eyes were ice blue the same shade as Linda's. He had grown a lot since the time of the wedding. He was about 5'10" House guessed, with broad shoulders.

Simon didn't lift his gaze from Allison's lithe form. "How serious is this?" Simon suddenly spoke.

House didn't think the other man knew he was there, so he was taken aback. "We don't know yet. It hasn't gotten any worse since they were admitted."

Simon nodded despondently.

House needed information, "Is there any history of mental illness in your family?"

"Not really," Simon shrugged. "Ally had depression for a few months after her husband died, but that was... eight or so years ago."

"What about recently?"

"Nothing I know of," Simon answered, he paused briefly, deciding to trust, "But our father died two months ago."

"Did Linda or Ally react strangely after his death?"

"Define strangely," Simon huffed, "They're upset, we all are."

"Not mentioning that your father died to your friends or taking any time off." House suggested.

Simon became deliberately cold, "Maybe she doesn't consider you a friend."

That statement alone indicated that Simon knew a lot about Cameron and House, and probably didn't like House already.

Simon turned his attention back to Cameron, taking her tiny hand in his.

House changed the subject, "What does Linda do?"

Simon didn't turn around, but responded bluntly, "She's a medical researcher, works at Columbia in biochemistry."

"What do you do?" House continued the interrogation.

"I teach high school English," Simon told him.

House had gotten all he felt he would out of Simon right now.


	7. Chapter 7

Foreman and Chase sat at the table, both men looked exhausted.

House began, "Dr. Linda Harvey, 32 years old, is a PhD in biochemistry. Works as a post doc in the biochemistry department at Columbia on protein folding disorders," House declared standing at the white board.

Foreman's ears pricked up, "You know, I think I saw her speak at a conference in New York two years ago, some break through about predicting protein structure from amino acid sequence alone..."

"She's one of the top biochemists in her field," House informed them.

Foreman perused the file, "Linda's medical history is pretty short, had all her shots, broke her ankle when she was twelve, had a melanoma removed two years ago."

Chase read off the extended family history Simon had provided, "Family... mother alive and well, except for rheumatoid arthritis in her hands. Father died six weeks ago, heart attack, no prior history of heart disease. Brother, no health problems."

Foreman added, "According to younger brother, Linda used to smoke pot in her mid teens."

"She do anything else?" House wondered. Pot wasn't exactly an anomaly.

"He doesn't know, she went off to college when she was sixteen," Chase explained.

Foreman continued, "Linda travels all over the world for conferences, in the last year she's been to Germany, South Africa and China."

"She could have picked up an infection and given it to Cameron," Chase suggested.

Foreman read off the test results, "No metabolic disturbance, TSH, electrolyte and serum calcium level were all normal."

Chase went to his tests, "Serology excluded HIV and syphilis."

"All the food I tested at the home was clean for toxins and pathogens," Foreman told the others.

"So what could cause psychosis..." House wondered out loud.

"What about neuroleptic malignant syndrome?" Foreman suggested. "It would explain all her symptoms."

"She tested negative for antipsychotics," Chase pointed out, "And we haven't given her any."

"Check both their serum CPK levels and for leukocytosis just to be sure," House didn't want to miss anything.

House was sure they were making assumptions, it was hard not to when you know someone. But he just wasn't sure which ones were right and which ones were wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

Foreman and Chase sat at the computers while Cameron was being scanned.

"Did you know Cameron is depressed?" Foreman asked him.

Chase shook his head, "No."

"She didn't mention anything," Foreman decided to press.

"No," Chase said more forcefully. Chases guilt came through, "We weren't doing a lot of talking."

Foreman nodded weakly in acceptance. They had all missed it and felt responsible.

PAGE BREAK

House sat in his chair, he was using his cane as a hockey stick to cradle his giant tennis ball.

Wilson knocked quietly before entering, "I heard about Cameron," he stated, and watched House for some kind of reaction.

"Your father dies, you don't take a day off work," House shook his head. _It didn't make sense, not for Cameron._ "She flew out on Friday night, the funeral was on Sunday and she arrived back in New Jersey early Monday morning." House told Wilson, dumbfounded more than anything else, "She wasn't even late to work on Monday or ... upset."

Wilson tried to make sense of it for him, "Different people deal with grief in different ways, House." "You're upset because she didn't confide in you."

"I'm her boss, she should have told me for professional reasons." House stated a little too petulantly. "I'd have given her time off."

"Some people feel they need to keep going," Wilson rationalised. "If she told you, you would have pried, maybe she didn't want that," Wilson warned House.

House sat back, staring up at the ceiling. His expression was contemplative.

Wilson changed the subject, "What'd he die of?"

"Heart attack." House reeled off instantly.

Wilson could tell he already had the file memorised.

House continued to talk without prompting, "With no prior history of heart problems, he wasn't even taking anti-hypertensives."

House thought for a moment. "He died unexpectedly, that should make it more of a shock."

"Well, she's on antidepressants," Wilson reminded him, "So I guess she is grieving and dealing with it her way."

"I've hardly noticed any difference in her behaviour," House said.

Wilson noted that House sounded disappointed in himself more than anything else.

"Sleeping with Chase?" Wilson offered.

"Apart from that," House shuddered in mockery.

Wilson sighed and went to leave, but stopped before he got to the door, "House," he waited until he had his friend's attention, "Cameron isn't your puzzle to solve, just be a friend, offer her support."

Wilson left. He'd take his advice or he wouldn't. _That was House_.


	9. Chapter 9

"Where are we?" House asked.

"Slight serum CPK elevation and no leukocytosis in Cameron but not Linda," Foreman checked his test results, "So neuroleptic malignant syndrome is out."

"If it is, they'll get better without any help from us," House dismissed, he wanted the next piece of information.

"What about infection," Chase suggested.

"We already did a lumbar puncture," Foreman snapped.

Chase tried to clarify, "She's a biochemist, she works on protein folding disorders like Mad Cow, Prion protein, Kuru..."

"You think she somehow ate one of her experiments?" Foreman tried to suppress a chuckle.

"She could have infected herself by accident," Chase assessed.

"Yeah," Foreman mocked Chase, "She's one of the best biochemists in the field, but she is sloppy enough to expose herself to Mad Cow disease."

Chase fought back, "Or maybe someone she works with or a rival from a competing lab sabotaged her."

"That wouldn't explain Cameron being sick," Foreman pointed out. He continued to shoot down Chase's idea, "It's not contagious, unless you think they have both been eating human brain infected with Kuru."

House figured they could settle this pretty quickly, "Check the protein levels in her CSF, if there is any elevation, abnormally folded protein acts like a rotten apple, it turns all the properly folded proteins into an army of rotten apples, and before you know it..." House decided to bugger the metaphor he wasn't in the mood. "Abnormally folded protein is more stable and at lower energy."

They both stared blankly at him.

House responded testily, "We have a biochemistry lab upstairs. I'm sure one of them can show you how it works."

PAGE BREAK

Chase reported, "CSF was negative for infection, and contained no abnormally folded proteins from any of the protein folding diseases Linda has ever worked on."

"What a surprise," Foreman continued to express his objection to what he considered to be pointless testing.

"Linda was in South Africa right," Chase stated, "Some anti-malarials can cause psychiatric symptoms."

Foreman checked the file, "Larium can cause psychosis in patients with a pre-existing mental illness... which Linda doesn't have." Foreman went back to the file, "According to the report she was prescribed doxycycline, which does have a number of side effects, none of which affect the brain."

House picked the file up off the table, "Don't bother, the trip to South Africa was two months ago, she would've been off anti-malarials for at least a month."

House's brain ticked over, "Doxycycline has side effects of acid reflux, diarrhoea, skin irritation, and most importantly increased sensitivity to the sun."

Chase looked puzzled, but Foreman caught where House was going, "Why would a woman who has a positive history of skin cancer elect to take an anti-malarial that would increase her sun sensitivity?"

"Lots of reasons," Chase interjected, "For one thing doxycycline is contraindicated with the pill and for women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant."

Foreman went back to Linda's file, "Linda isn't on the pill..." he kept scanning down the page, "According to this, she's never been prescribed the pill."

"Do a pregnancy test," House ordered, "Find out if she's seeing anyone, I want to know why she took the doxy."


	10. Chapter 10

House was sitting in his office attempting to think, when a woman in her late fifties knocked on the glass. House looked up and instantly knew this was Cameron's mother. She was a little taller than Cameron, somewhat gaunt. Her eyes were like Cameron's, same colour and shape, with long thick lashes, but had wrinkles and crows feet around the edges. Her hair was grey, and styled short, mature, dignified, the same as she was dressed. She would've been stunning in her youth.

"Are you Dr. House?" She asked. A pensive expression had washed over her features.

"Yes," replied, as he stood up formally. "You must be Mrs Harvey."

She nodded. "Where are my girls?" She asked impatiently.

"They're currently in the psych ward," House tired to explain. "I can take you there."

"Do you know what happened yet?" She asked.

House felt like a failure, "No, not yet."

She asked him no more questions about anything the rest of the way there. She eyed his cane somewhat suspiciously. She seemed normal enough, just not what he expected.

PAGE BREAK

"Linda's not pregnant," Chase announced.

Foreman took over, "I spoke to her boss in New York, he said that she's isn't seeing anyone as far as he knows, and according to him, he has never heard of her dating anyone in the seven years she's worked for him."

House laid out the options, "So she's either very lonely, dating her boss and he's hiding it, or she's very private." House laid out the options, "Which gives us... nothing."

"We could check her apartment," Foreman suggested.

House's tone changed to curious, "Anyone think the timing is suspicious?"

"What do you mean?" Chase asked, "That they're both sick at the same time?" He tried to clarify. _That wasn't suspicious, that meant it was contagious, or the exposure was the same_.

"No, I mean with their father dying." House had an idea, he turned the white board around, "Forget the medicine for a second. What do we know about Cameron and Linda as people?"

"They're both smart, independent women." Foreman began, "Have professional jobs, both work hard and are good at what they do."

"Good," House responded and wrote the key words down.

Chase joined in, "They're both private."

"Excellent," House complimented him.

House waited, no more observations came from his team, "Come on, come on."

"They're pretty different, House," Foreman explained, "If they weren't sister's I doubt they'd have anything in common.

House lead them down his chain of thought, "By all accounts Linda is scruffy minded, she's a very talented abstract thinker. She's cold, doesn't have many friends, doesn't keep good contact with her family, she travels a lot."

House paced the room, "Cameron on the other hand is neat minded, very hard working, and is too soft for her own good."

Foreman chipped in, "Linda is withdrawn and disorganised, a few scientists I spoke to said she's a bit of a flake."

Chase interjected, "Cameron likes to be in control." He felt self conscious for saying it, because his reference point wasn't from their working relationship.

House picked up on Chase's ill ease, and couldn't help himself.

"What's the matter Chase, she didn't let you be on top?" House put on a mock whiney voice.

Then a light bulb lit up in House's mind. "Symptoms of sexual abuse..." He went to the white board and began to write "Promiscuity or frigidity, eating disorders and being intensely private."

"You think Cameron was sexually abused?" Foreman asked in disbelief.

"She's not promiscuous," Chase scoffed.

House ignored Chase's comment. "They both have opposing reactions to the same problem or trauma."

House glanced at the shocked faces of his underlings, "Say that Daddy did sexually abuse both girls, he dies suddenly and the flood gates open, and now they are both suffering from some kind of conversion disorder."

"How are we going to test that?" Foreman challenged.

"Talk to the brother and the mother." House stated as if it we obvious, "Either that or we try and set them off."

Neither Chase nor Foreman looked at him or each other. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room as they packed up there files and left the room.


	11. Chapter 11

Foreman found House in the hall, "Simon is sure his father never touched his sisters."

"How can he be sure?" House asked, more for its epistemological value than anything else.

"Because he said that he and Cameron are very close and he would know," Foreman answered.

House noted that Foreman's tone was defensive and somewhat angry. House figured it was because he felt guilty. Foreman exhibited a certain amount of protectiveness for Cameron, like he was her big brother.

"What about Linda?" House asked.

"He doesn't see her very much _and_ according to him, neither does Cameron," Foreman told him.

Chase came up the hall, House noted significantly more spring in his step. "It's Cameron," he beamed, "She's getting better."

Cameron was sitting up and she looked alert.

"Simon," Cameron called as she embraced him in a warm hug.

"I was so worried." He admitted. He caressed Cameron's cheek with his thumb, "How are you feeling?"

The team led by Chase entered the room.

"Much better," Cameron sighed in relief. "I feel like I've been having a crazy dream for the last couple of days." Cameron said.

"You had a car accident," Simon told her.

"I remember we were driving home from the restaurant, and I kept hearing people talking to me. I was trying to tell him to stop but he wouldn't..." Cameron seemed to be getting worked up from her vivid recollection.

"Then I saw him in front of the car, so I swerved," Cameron was shaking her head, she looked ready to cry. She took a couple of deep breaths to settle herself. "It gets fuzzy for a while there."

"Who wouldn't stop?" Simon asked his confusion evident.

"Dad," she said.

Cameron continued to recount her memories, "There was this dove and it was trying to steal my spirit, so I couldn't open my eyes."

She suddenly realised the whole team were at the door watching.

Cameron shook her head, "That all sounds so crazy."

"At least your better now," Simon smiled, holding Allison in close to his chest, and softly caressing her hair. "I was so worried."

Cameron suddenly panicked, "Oh my God, where's Linda?"

"She's in the next room," Simon assured her, "She's still acting a little..." Simon stalled while he tried to find a nice word, "Confused," he settled on.

"We're glad you're better," Chase positively glowed with relief.

Cameron smiled back at him, her silent thanks.

"We'll leave you two alone," Foreman said respectfully, yanking Chase out of the room.

Cameron noticed House, "What did you guys give me?"

"Nothing," House said simply, disappointed with himself that he was no closer to understanding it now that Cameron appeared to be fine.

House remained distant as an observer of the sibling's interaction.

"What?" Cameron didn't understand.

"Whatever it was is probably environmental," House shrugged, "Linda will probably get better soon."

Cameron raised her eyebrow suspiciously. "You're satisfied with not knowing?" She knew this would eat a way at him.

Cameron saw something behind House. "Mom," she seemed surprised to see her.

"Allison," the older woman came over and gave her daughter a brief hug. "I was so worried."

"How's Linda doing?" Simon asked, as his mother had just been in with her.

"She's still talking nonsense when she says anything at all. She's still restrained," Mary Harvey looked ready to cry.

House left the room, he felt like an intruder.

PAGE BREAK

Cameron was going to be kept overnight for observation, but she was allowed to walk around a little now. She made her way to House's office. He was staring intensely at the wall and didn't notice her.

"I hear you think I have conversion disorder," Cameron broke his concentration.

House's head shot up.

"It's one possible theory," House shrugged.

"I wasn't sexually abused, and neither was Linda, start looking for something else," Cameron said flatly.

House studied her face as she spoke. She gave nothing away.

"Why didn't you tell me your father died?" House tried to hide the hurt he felt.

Cameron's sad eyes held his for a long moment, "I don't know... I guess you and I just don't have that kind of relationship."

House nodded, her comment was cold but honest. He hadn't been her friend. Their relationship had always been about what he would allow her to see, to know, when he needed it. Come to think of it, they hadn't had a real conversation since Cameron was telling him about her husband dying while crying over a centrifuge.

He felt a sharp pain shoot up his leg. He padded his pocket for his Vicodin bottle.

Cameron broke the silence that was settling between them, "If it was environmental, shouldn't Linda be getting better by now, she hasn't improved at all."

House shrugged it off, "She may have had higher exposure than you."

Cameron seemed to accept this answer.

"You and Simon are very close," House observed. It was deliberately leading.

Cameron knitted her brow, unsure of what to make of House's comment. "Yeah," she nodded.

"That must be nice," House added, almost as an afterthought.

It was the kind of comment that invites the other person to talk more but Cameron said nothing.

House decided to go fishing, "How close are you and Linda?"

"Not that close," Cameron seemed a little sad by it, "I hardly ever see her, we talk on the phone about once a month," Cameron hesitated, then decided to say it anyway, "She has this way of not telling you anything important, she's so guarded."

House was still trying to put all the pieces together, "Why is Linda your emergency contact?"

Cameron thought for a moment, "I filled that form out when I arrived, almost four years ago, Simon was away at college."

The explanation was much simpler than House anticipated.

"You're mother isn't what I expected," House smiled.

"You were expecting a 200 pound country bumpkin wearing an apron and a smile, weren't you?" Cameron teased.

"Kind of," House conceded.

Their smiling eyes found comfort in one another for a brief moment.


	12. Chapter 12

House sat in the diagnostics room staring at the white board trying to make sense of what they were seeing. Chase was sitting at the table going back through all the files they had.

Cameron came into the room. She looked stressed, "Linda's getting worse."

Chase theorised, "Maybe they were exposed to something that caused psychosis, but Linda is now suffering from DDTs because she's been here for three days and hasn't had a drink."

Cameron took offence to that suggestion. "Linda doesn't drink," she said curtly.

"You mean she tells _you_ she doesn't drink," Chase reminded her.

"She did when she was younger. She stopped when she was about twenty three." Cameron informed Chase and House, "If she's an alcoholic she stays sober at Christmas and Thanksgiving."

"Why did she stop drinking?" House asked, "Did something happen?"

Cameron shrugged, "Not that I know of, she just stopped."

"What has been different about Linda's exposure than Cameron's?" House pondered.

"Nothing," Chase told them, "They have been in beds next to each other in the same ward, eating the same food."

"Where's Foreman?" Cameron asked suddenly.

"He's driven to New York to check Linda's apartment." Chase told her.

Cameron began to walk back to Linda's room. Her mother and brother were watching her for the time being. She was glad House was letting her be apart of the team on this one, because watching Linda talk to herself made Cameron feel completely helpless.

"Cameron," Chase caught up to her at the elevator.

She held the doors open for him. Chase was glad they would be alone.

"I just wanted to say," Chase began uncomfortably, "I'm really sorry about your Dad."

Cameron smiled sadly back at him, "It's okay. How could you have known?"

"You were there for me with my Dad," the vulnerability was clear in Chase's voice, "I just wish I could have done the same for you."

Chase pause before adding genuinely, "I'm sorry if I was insensitive."

Chase rubbed her shoulder in an comforting way.

"Thank you," Cameron said softly.

The doors opened and Chase stepped out.

"It had nothing to do with you," Cameron tried to clarify why she didn't confide in him.

Chase stopped and turned, not entirely sure what she meant.

Cameron spoke sadly, "I just wasn't ready to talk yet."


	13. Chapter 13

"I know why she took doxycycline," Foreman proclaimed triumphantly as he rested a prescription pill container down on the table.

Chase picked up the pills, "Haldol."

"Linda is _not_ schizophrenic," Cameron huffed. _She would know if she was_.

Chase inspected the bottle closer, "Wait a minute, these are prescribed to Jane Harrison."

"Look at the prescribing doctor's name," Foreman instructed, "Lional Griffin."

"That doesn't mean anything to me, you think it's a fake prescription?" Cameron asked her confusion evident.

"He works with Linda, he's a MDPhD" (pronounced MUDFUD)

"I figure he's been keeping it quiet for her," Foreman explained, "Not a lot of grants are given to mad scientists anymore."

"We tested her blood she was negative for anti-psychotics," Cameron reminded him.

"I spoke to Dr. Griffin," Foreman spoke to Cameron, "He confirmed Linda has had schizophrenia for almost ten years."

Cameron became silent. The truth was beginning to sink in.

"She tested negative because she's off her meds," House suddenly entered the discussion. "She went to Johannesburg for five days, boring conference... not interesting, but..." House began to pace slowing up and down the room, "She was prescribed doxycycline, not really suitable for a person who has had melanoma, unless that person has an active history of mental illness, such as schizophrenia."

"Because her Haldol would be contraindicated with Larium," Foreman concluded.

"Exactly," House responded.

"She took doxy, so she should have been fine, no psychiatric symptoms," Cameron challenged, "The anti-malarials don't tell us why she stopped taking her anti-psychotics."

"Ah, but if your luggage is misplaced at the airport when you arrive," House held up a copy of an insurance report, "Pretty common in Johannesburg... And the pharmacy that is supposed to be supplying you with replacement doxycycline is out or just incompetent for whatever reason, and they give you Larium instead, it's cheaper, it does the same thing in 98 of people so they figure no harm no foul..."

"But in someone with schizophrenia," Foreman conceded, "The Larium interacts with the Haldol and bam, you get vivid dreaming, hallucinations, paranoia and psychosis."

"Shouldn't someone have noticed?" Chase observed, "The trip was two months ago."

"It was only five days," House defended his theory, "She probably only took five pills, not enough to do too much damage, paranoia is one of the first side effects, which might have been enough to make her stop taking her Haldol. When she stopped taking the Haldol. The drugs are no longer interacting, so the side effects stay mild, maybe just the dreams and some paranoia."

"She comes back from the conference, and after a couple of weeks stops taking the anti-malarials. She's now been off her anti-psychotics for three weeks, so then her psychiatric symptoms get worse, notably social withdrawal.

"And no one noticed a thing."

"They probably would have, but..." House turned to Cameron, "You're father died, so Linda took leave for a month."

"She probably was acting weird but people dismissed it as grief."

"We've hardly seen her over the last ten years," Cameron admitted sadly, "I'm not sure we'd know what was odd behaviour for her."

"She stays with your mother for a couple of weeks after the funeral, all the while getting more withdrawn. She gets more paranoid and the hallucinations get worse, she thinks your mother is plotting to kill her, so she calls you," House stared at Cameron.

Cameron nodded somewhat resigned, "She called out of the blue to see if she could stay with me."

"You're a little distracted with work or your own grief, whatever, you don't notice her behaviour," House spoke nonchalantly.

He caught sight of Cameron's expression that was somewhere between hurt and dumbfounded.

"By all counts Linda's a little eccentric anyway..." House tried to dispel some of the guilt he expected Cameron would be feeling.

"But then Linda becomes convinced that you are trying to poison her..." House kept explaining.

"She was only eating canned soup and chips, anything that hadn't been opened..." Cameron realised. "I just figured she was binge eating."

"So why did Cameron get sick?" Chase asked blankly.

"Isn't it obvious," House mocked him.

Foreman questioned, "You think Linda poisoned Cameron with anti-psychotics?"

"Cameron's blood was negative for anti-psychotics," Chase reminded them.

"Linda didn't give Cameron Haldol, she gave her the rest of her Larium, which we don't test for in a standard tox screen."

Foreman finished the sentence for House, "Larium interacted with Cameron's antidepressants, causing the psychiatric symptoms."

"Especially since Linda gave her three times the recommended dose," House said reading the test results for the extra blood test for Larium he had ordered for Cameron, "She probably crushed it into a powder and mixed it in your food."

Cameron looked deflated. She shook her head, "How didn't I notice."

"By that stage," House informed her, "You were starting to show psychiatric symptoms yourself, which is probably why you didn't notice."

"I meant before then." Cameron explained, he voice had become quiet, ashamed.

"Larium is metabolised by the liver in preference to Zoloft, which is why the levels of antidepressants in your system were higher than they should have been," Foreman told Cameron.

"Exactly." House almost smiled, it all fit, everything was in place now. He felt peaceful.

Chase continued, "When Cameron was admitted to hospital, she ate our non-Larium containing food and got better after a few days."

"Linda on the other hand continued to decline because she needs anti-psychotics to stay level," Foreman added.

House spoke again, "We assumed that two sisters with the same symptoms at the same time must have been caused by the same thing."

_**A/N:**_** I know there are way more than two antimalarials, but it was easier for the sake of the story, so don't bother telling me about Quinine, Chloroquine...**


	14. Chapter 14

Cameron stood at the glass wall of Linda's room. Linda was being given Haldol and was showing improvement. They could check her out by the end of the week. She heard House behind her.

Cameron admitted sadly, "I always thought she was so perfect, you know."

"You should be mindful of not putting people on too high a pedestal," he warned her. He tried to lighten the mood, "Acrophobia's a bitch."

Cameron smirked at his statement.

Her disappointed tone resumed, "She's been hiding this for ten years."

"Everybody lies," House stated.

"That's why she stopped drinking." Cameron nodded, resigned.

"Probably," House agreed, "Alcohol is contraindicated with Haldol."

Cameron eyed him suspiciously, and her tone became sly, "So... Did you find out what I lie about?"

House considered this briefly, "Not really." He watched he out the corner of his eye.

He waited for Cameron to tell him something else, but she didn't.

House sighed, "I have to admit, I'm still trying to make sense of your family, I get that Linda was the golden child, but what happened to you and Simon?"

"What do you mean?" Cameron said defensively.

"Dad was distant, a workaholic," he considered, "An alcoholic?"

After every guess he would check her reaction.

Cameron stared at him blankly.

"Mom was... I can't figure her out, distracted... maybe," House knew he shouldn't, but he felt a compulsion to pry. "She was too busy looking after Dad?"

"House give it up," Cameron expressed her distaste for this conversation, "Some things you're just not going to know."

"Linda is cold and distant while _you..._" House cut himself off, _fall in love with dying men,_ was what he was going to say. But having read the letter he couldn't bring himself to take anymore shots at her.

"Parental neglect?" House threw out, it was more of a playful game now.

Cameron smiled deviously, "You're way off."

House was curious about something else, "What I don't get is Simon, how did he turn out so normal?"

Cameron turned her head slightly so that she could make eye contact with House, a warm smile threatened her features, "He's the one thing I did right."

"You raised him, didn't you." It was a statement not a question.

"He's happy." Cameron beamed, "And he's balanced... he loves teaching and he's getting married."

House watched her. She was so beautiful when she smiled.

Cameron turned back to him, "Oh, I hear you have some things of mine," Cameron raised an eyebrow to him, but didn't seem particularly mad.

"Um, yeah, I needed them, you know..." House struggled to find a suitable response, "To get into your mindset." _That was a lame answer._

Cameron chuckled at House's obviously sheepish behaviour, "Just give them back. No harm no foul."

Cameron followed House into his office. He gave her back the wedding album, the letter and some photos. She was about to leave when House remembered something.

"Oh and I have your CD..." he called after her. Foreman had recovered it from the car. House had taken out of curiosity more than anything else, he had no idea what music she liked.

"American Tune?" Cameron checked.

"Something like that," House said.

"You know what," Cameron decided, "Keep it, I always think of track two as being about you."

House's curiosity had officially been piqued.

House got into his car, glad he had driven in today. He flicked the CD player on to track two and sat there listening. The introduction was soft guitar, it was familiar but he couldn't quite place it until the words sung by a sweet soprano voice started. Then he smiled.

_You with the sad eyes  
Don't be discouraged  
Though I realise  
It's hard to take courage  
In a world full of people  
You can lose sight of it all  
And the darkness there inside you  
Makes you feel so small_

But I see your true colours  
Shining through  
See your true colours  
That's why I love you  
So don't be afraid to let them show  
Your true colours  
True colours are beautiful  
Like a rainbow

Show me a smile then  
And don't be unhappy  
Can't remember  
When I last saw you laughing  
If this world makes you crazy  
And you've taken all you can bear  
You can call me up  
Because you know I'll be there

And I see your true colours  
Shining through  
See your true colours  
That's why I love you  
So don't be afraid to let them show  
Your true colours  
Your true colours are beautiful  
Like a rainbow

Oh oh oh I can't remember  
When I last saw you laugh  
If this world makes you crazy  
And you've taken all you can bear  
You call me up  
Because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colours  
Shining through  
See your true colours  
That's why I love you  
So don't be afraid to let them show  
Your true colours  
Your true colours are beautiful  
Like a rainbow

I see your true colours  
Shining through  
See your true colours  
That's why I love you  
So don't be afraid to let them show  
Your true colours  
Your true colours are beautiful  
Like a rainbow

Oh oh oh

_**A/N:**_** That's all folks. No steamy sex in this one. For those who are wondering, the song at the end is Eva Cassidy's True Colours (cover of the original- Cydi Lauper, but the song was written by****Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly****). If anyone is a little more computerly gifted then me feels at all inclined, I'd love to see this song as a House Cameron fanvid on YouTube... hint hint.**


End file.
